Robert William Kirk's guidebook, You Can Travel Free, is an extremely comprehensive and fact filled guidebook presenting useful strategies and methods that have been employed by those who roam far and frequently - without paying.

The book is divided into seventeen chapters featuring tips, ideas, reference sources, experiences, and guidance. Within these chapters we are introduced to such topics as free accommodations, free ship cruising, hosting group tours, free land transportation, airline freebies, volunteering, working vacations, sightseeing for free, and how to receive scholarships and grants to travel free.

Each chapter begins with a brief quotation that the author appropriately refers to as, "McCheap's" laws.

The author's first law of travel is "the less money you spend at any destination, the more enjoyable the experience." If you think about this rule for a moment you will probably immediately remember that your most enjoyable vacations were those you had incurred the least expense.

The second law introducing the "Free Accommodations" chapter states, "if you paid anything at all for your last vacation you may have paid too much."

Reading these rules, you pretty much get the idea of the book's major theme. A combination of ingenuity, information and the right strategy are all that is required to travel the globe without having to go into debt.

As a concrete example, in the chapter dealing with free accommodations we are informed as to how we can vacation without paying for the cost of a hotel or motel. Immediately the reader is hooked. Is there such a thing as a "free lunch" when it comes to accommodations?

We are not only informed of the possibility of house swapping that many of us are aware of, but we are also provided with a very extensive list of sources where we may be able to find individuals willing to swap their houses with us.

Did you know that there are empty farmhouses, fishermen's dwellings, and deserted boathouses available for public use in Norway? Are you aware of an organization named Seniors Abroad and by joining, travelers who are 50 and over can be guests of seniors in other countries? These are a tiny miniscule of the invaluable tips and secrets found throughout the book.

Apart from free or low cost accommodations, we are also informed of the many free or inexpensive attractions scattered throughout the world. Have you ever heard of free bikes? The author tells us that in Copenhagen bikes can be used without paying. One thousand "city bikes" are available.

Finally, an added feature is the last chapter entitled, "A Wealth of Free Information" where we are presented with over twenty five pages of names, addresses, phone numbers, and web addresses of many organizations as well as publications that reinforce McCheap's seventeenth law of travel: "learning as much as you can about your destinations costs nothing, and can make your free travels a success."

The book is well worth its money for anyone who is desirous of knowing how to travel on a very low budget.

"Copyright 2002, Bookideas.com. Originally published at Bookideas.com"